Sir Peter Blake gunned down defending his crew

12.00 pm

New Zealand yachting legend Sir Peter Blake was killed by bandits on the Amazon River as he rushed to the aid of crew members aboard his ship Seamaster.

Sir Peter was shot and died immediately after masked and hooded bandits boarded the Seamaster, while it was stationed at Macapa, at the northern mouth of the Amazon River in Brazilian territory.

At about 10.15 pm Wednesday local time (2.15 pm Thursday NZT), about seven or eight armed pirates "came out of the darkness" and took the crew by surprise, Sir Peter's good friend and head of the Blakexpeditions organisation, Alan Sefton said.

Two other crew members were shot at, but received minor facial and back injuries from the bullets.

"We got a telephone call from Seamaster (with) the dreadful news, that Sir Peter was dead. And then we got into some more of the detail," Mr Sefton told National Radio.

Although some details were still sketchy and Brazilian police were still aboard the vessel, Mr Sefton said the crew had just arrived at Macapa on their way back down from the upper reaches of the Amazon.

They were there to clear customs and immigration before leaving Brazilian waters for the Orinoco river area in Venezuela.

There, they were to rendezvous with the rest of the crew, who had been venturing across land through Venezuela.

"They'd been out for dinner, just got back on board and were having a beer on deck. Out of the darkness appeared this group of approximately seven or eight bandits with guns and hoods and motorcycle helmets and held the crew at gunpoint.

"It appears Sir Peter might have been below (deck) because by all accounts he came charging up, was met halfway and was cut down in his path. He was shot at least twice and although the crew did try resuscitation when they could get to him, he died immediately," Mr Sefton said.

After the shooting, the rest of the crew continued to be held at gunpoint and were robbed of watches and cameras. The bandits then fled into the darkness, firing as they went and injuring two other crew members.

Mr Sefton said the area was known for such criminal behaviour and the crew had taken precautions, but there was little they could do when taken by surprise.

"From what we can glean, it is not that uncommon, although not an everyday occurrence.

"We were aware of this kind of danger and always prepared for it, there was always a good watch kept from the vessel 24 hours a day. But it appears these guys just came out of nowhere in the darkness and the crew were confronted by guns and desperate men," he said.

Crew members had told Mr Sefton that Sir Peter "came charging up in defence of his boat and his crew and got taken down in full flight".

Brazilian police claimed Sir Peter used a rifle and shot at the bandits before they turned and killed him.

"He was probably shot twice in the back," a spokesman for Brazil's federal police said.

The police report said Sir Peter had shot at the invading bandits with a rifle, most likely wounding one of them, before being killed.

Two other crew members on the Seamaster were wounded. The pirates stole several watches, cameras, an inflatable dinghy and possibly a spare engine.

Blake and his crew were on an eight-month expedition to highlight the degradation of the environment. It was the second expedition in a five-year programme by Blakexpeditions to environmentally sensitive areas around the world.

The Amazon trip followed a three-month trip around Antarctica.

"The whole objective is to raise awareness of the damage that is being done and the desperate need now to take better care of planet earth.

"This was Pete's probably last and greatest adventure and as per normal he brought to it everything that he brought to everything else, all the determination, the charisma, the passion, the integrity. It was his big mission in life," Mr Sefton said.

During Prime Minister Helen Clark's recent visit to South America she visited Sir Peter and the Seamaster. Sir Peter told her he was concerned the waters were being fished out by commercial fishers who were sweeping it clean and logging native forests.

There are laws against illegal logging and over-fishing but enforcement is difficult in the Amazon area with little government presence and no roads.

Maintaining the Amazon forest was critically important internationally as deforestation contributed to climate change, he had said.

While New Zealand could afford to stop logging of native forest, Brazil was a developing country.

In July, Sir Peter was appointed a special envoy of the United Nations Environment Programme.

He was the first New Zealander to be chosen as goodwill ambassador for the programme.

Sir Peter, 53, is survived by his wife Pippa and two children. Lady Blake and her children are at the couple's home in the English village of Emsworth, Hampshire.

- NZPA

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